Damn, Just a Little Bit More

Early the next morning, Kakashi roused Naruto and Sasuke from their sleep to begin special training.

"Your current chakra control is far too poor," Kakashi said, leaning on his crutch as he led the three of them to a patch of forest. "Today's training is tree climbing."

He demonstrated it himself, eschewing his hands and simply focusing chakra into the soles of his feet, walking up the vertical trunk of a massive tree as easily as if he were strolling on flat ground.

"Concentrate a moderate amount of chakra steadily into the soles of your feet and utilize the adhesive force... The principle is simple, but it is the best way to test a ninja's chakra control."

Sakura, possessing the most solid theoretical foundation, quickly grasped the trick. Though she was a bit wobbly, she successfully climbed the tree.

Sasuke, refusing to be outdone, left several deep footprints in the trunk after a few failed attempts before relying on his own talent to successfully climb up.

Only Naruto, hindered by the interference of the Nine-Tails' chakra within him, could not achieve precise control; he either used too much force and shattered the bark, or lacked enough chakra and fell straight down.

"Damn it! Why am I the only one who can't do it!" Naruto refused to give up, trying again and again.

"Ling Xuan, won't you give it a try?" Kakashi asked.

Ling Xuan nodded and stepped forward. He closed his eyes as if sensing something, and after a few seconds, he took a step.

His foot adhered firmly to the trunk, and then, one step, two steps, three steps...

Just like Kakashi, he walked to the top of the tree with a leisurely gait, then hung upside down from a branch, calmly watching the stunned group below.

"You... how did you..." Sasuke looked at him, his eyes filled with frustration. Something he had struggled with all his might, Ling Xuan had accomplished on the first try, and with such effortless grace.

"Before stepping, calculate the amount of chakra output required at the sole of your foot and the work needed to counteract gravity, then execute it precisely," Ling Xuan explained indifferently.

This answer, which sounded like a physics textbook, left everyone silent once more.

Over the next few days, Naruto and Sasuke began their frantic tree-climbing training, secretly competing with each other and refusing to admit defeat.

As for Ling Xuan, once he confirmed he had perfectly mastered the technique, he began his own true "cultivation."

Every day, he would create a Shadow Clone, which would vanish into the dense forests of the Land of Waves under the guise of scouting. The true mission of this Shadow Clone was to track down the hideout of Zabuza and Haku by analyzing the traces left from their battle and studying the environment.

Meanwhile, several other Shadow Clones remained in his room at the orphanage, never resting; some continued to deduce the formula for the Flying Thunder God, others attempted higher-level elemental fusion, and some worked on reverse-engineering the mysteries of human meridians and acupoints based on Haku's death-feigning technique.

Time flowed in the isolated Land of Waves at a slow and oppressive pace.

In the blink of an eye, a week passed.

For the genin of Team 7, the experiences of this week were far more profound than anything they had learned in years at the Ninja Academy.

In the forest clearing at dawn, Naruto and Sasuke were engaged in intense special training. Their focus had shifted from the initial tree climbing to the more difficult task of water walking.

"Damn it! So close!"

Naruto was drenched in sweat, his feet planted on the water's surface as he struggled to maintain his balance. The water beneath him rippled and bubbled as if boiling, revealing just how violent and difficult to harness the massive chakra within him truly was.

He could barely stand on the water for a few seconds, but he was still a long way from walking as freely as Kakashi.

On the other side, Sasuke was faring much better. With his lips pressed tight and eyes focused, his feet stood firmly on the water. Although his steps were still a bit stiff, he was already capable of walking short distances. Under his deliberate control, the chakra within him extended from his soles like precise silk threads, forming a delicate balance with the water's surface.

Ever since witnessing Kakashi's Sharingan and Ling Xuan's superhuman intelligence and strength, Sasuke's heart had been dealt an unprecedented blow. He trained harder than ever before, for he had realized for the first time, with such clarity, the chasm that existed between him and the truly strong.

Sakura was the first of the three to master water walking, her excellent chakra control perfectly reflected in this moment. Yet she did not grow arrogant; instead, she spent more time reviewing theory and asking Kakashi for guidance on basic medical ninjutsu.

The battle with Zabuza had made her deeply understand how powerless she was in a real life-or-death struggle, and she did not want to be the one who could only scream and hold others back again.

Ling Xuan, however, did not participate in this "basic" training.

After perfectly mastering water walking on the first day, he had requested Kakashi's permission to spend his time on "tactical planning and environmental reconnaissance." Kakashi had agreed after giving him a long, deep look, for he knew well that this boy's way of growing could no longer be measured by conventional training models.

At this moment, Ling Xuan was sitting cross-legged on the roof of Tazuna's house, his eyes closed. His main body was in deep meditation, digesting and integrating the massive amount of information he had gathered over the past few days.

His Shadow Clones, meanwhile, had long since turned into invisible shadows, scattered across every corner of the Land of Waves to carry out the tasks he had set.

[Reconnaissance Clone, in the dense forest of eastern Land of Waves]

This Shadow Clone was lurking in the canopy of a massive ancient tree, having suppressed all traces of his presence. Several hundred meters below him lay an abandoned forest hut. This was the hideout of Zabuza and Haku, which he had finally located after days of analyzing battle traces and tracking faint traces of medicinal herbs.

Through the vision of the Eye of Truth, the scene inside the hut was laid bare.

Zabuza lay on a crude wooden bed, wrapped in fresh bandages, his aura still weak; he was clearly in the recovery period following his feigned death. The masked boy, Haku, was carefully brewing medicine for him, his movements gentle and focused.

Haku's loyalty to Zabuza was absolute; it was both the source of his strength and his greatest weakness.

The mission of this Shadow Clone was to monitor them twenty-four hours a day, mastering their every move until the moment of the final battle arrived.

[Research Clone, in a hidden cave]

Before this Shadow Clone lay various plant and mineral samples collected from the Land of Waves, as he conducted an analysis of biochemistry and toxicology.

Like a mad scientist, he greedily parsed every substance in this world, converting them into tools he could utilize.